Entries in Jay Whitehead
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I noted Jay Whitehead's passing last week, but was unable to provide any interesting links about the man's history. Since then this short but useful post has appeared. It includes a couple of photos (with links to background information about them) and links to an old profile piece on Whitehead. Fans of old games will also appreciate links to collections of pre-1867 chess games Whitehead helped compile.

In my post remembering the late Jay Whitehead, I mentioned that he showed me an opening idea he had prepared for Walter Browne that I - unexpectedly - had the opportunity to use against the 6-time U.S. champion several months later. It was an exciting game that was lost forever - or so I thought - but to my amazement and delight someone posted the game score in the comments section of that post.

Happily, it's a very rich game with all kinds of things going on: attacks, passed pawns, tactics, imbalances, weird pawn structures and the list goes on. Naturally, I'm biased to find the game an interesting one, but I think many of you will, too. You can find the game score in the aforementioned comment, and here you can watch my video presentation of the game. It's free (free registration required) and available on-demand for the next month or so. Check it out!

Americans whose chess careers go back to at least the late 1980s may remember International Master Jay Whitehead, who apparently passed away on Monday from cancer, eight days before his 50th birthday. Whitehead was a talented junior who became a Hare Krishna and would often appear at chess tournaments in the flowing robes characteristic of that sect.

At some point in the late 1980s he, like many strong young American players, gave up the game to secure a more stable existence. In one of his last tournaments in that decade he stayed at my place, and I got to know him a little. He was an intelligent and enthusiastic person, and I'd imagine that he fared well in the professional world (as long as the saffron robes didn't become an issue!).

As a fringe benefit, he "paid" me - and he didn't have to - by showing me a novelty he had intended to use against GM Walter Browne but that I could use if given the opportunity. At that point I had just about started a long retirement from chess, so while it was interesting it didn't seem to be of any particular use. Happily and surprisingly, things turned out otherwise. Several months later I decided on the spur of the moment to play in one last chess tournament. (Obviously the retirement didn't "take", but it was my last tournament for about four years, and after a couple more tournaments I stopped again for another four years.) Sure enough, Browne was also playing, and we were paired in the penultimate round. Unfortunately, I hadn't written Whitehead's analysis down and didn't remember everything he had shown me, but I did remember enough to make Browne sweat a bit before he escaped with a draw!